Christian Castro was released a day after a federal judge rejected Minnesota’s bid to keep him jailed while Gov. Greg Abbott decides whether to sign extradition papers. BROWNSVILLE — The immigration officer at the center of a Minnesota-Texas legal fight was released from a South Texas jail Thursday, a day after a federal judge rejected Read More…
Gov. Kelly Armstrong appointed Tony Hillig, recreation division chief for the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, as the agency’s new director, effective immediately. Hillig has served as chief of the department’s recreation division since December 2020, overseeing recreation grants, trail management, motorized recreation and safety programs statewide. He joined the department in 2019 as Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in July, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced, continuing the state’s record stretch of low unemployment and remaining nearly a full percentage point below the national rate, which also declined over the month to 4.1%. “As Montana’s unemployment rate continues to decline, businesses across our state are expanding, creating high-paying jobs, Read More…
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley commended the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after it dismissed a legal challenge brought by suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua who were seeking to avoid removal from the United States. The en banc Fifth Circuit dismissed the case on August 13 as moot after the Read More…
The Montana Board of Regents is moving to approve 2 percent raises for 13 of its highest-paid administrators, including the two flagship campus presidents and the commissioner of higher education. The regents, meeting for two days in Missoula, expressed strong support for the raises, which will go to some of the state’s highest paid employees. Read More…
CHICO, Calif. – Days after his boss generated controversy for suggesting poor forest management is to blame for California’s latest wildfires, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is pledging President Trump’s “full support” to help the torched state recover. But the former Montana lawmaker is still insisting forest management is key to curbing future disasters. “I don’t Read More…
Updated: Nov 11, 2018 8:50 PM MST In observance of Veterans day, the only veteran elected to statewide executive office spoke in front of dozens of current and retired service members at the historic fort Missoula. Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton was the guest speaker at the Veterans day opening ceremonies for the 100th anniversary of Read More…
BILLINGS – MetraPark announced Monday that “Weird Al” Yankovic will perform at the Rimrock Auto Arena next summer. Yankovic will bring the Strings Attached Tour to Billings on Aug. 25. Here’s the full press release: Weird Al” Yankovic will bring his tour to Rimrock Auto Arena on August 25, 2019. His Strings Attached tour is a Read More…
A group of local food and retail union members have appealed the city’s decision to approve site plans for WinCo Foods, requiring review by the Bozeman City Commission before the grocery retailer can move forward with plans. The six workers from Bozeman and Belgrade broadly criticized nearly every aspect of WinCo’s plans in their appeal, Read More…
Just days after he was formally elected as Flathead County’s next sheriff, Brian Heino is building his team. Heino has selected two long-time Flathead County Sheriff’s Office veterans and one new face to join him when he takes over as the county’s top lawman on Jan. 1. Wayne K. DuBois, a police sergeant in Richland, Read More…
U.S. businesses added 250,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said on Friday—a blowout number that surpassed Wall Street’s expectation. The monthly average job creation now stands at about 180,000 for the last three months. That incorporates revised data for September, which saw an unusually low jobs figure thanks to Hurricane Florence. Wages jumped. Average monthly earnings Read More…
It’s no secret that outdoors recreation in Montana is big business. Gov. Steve Bullock wants to see the growth continue. The state’s outdoor recreation economy generates more than $7.1 billion in annual consumer spending and employs more than 71,000 people each year, making it the second largest sector of the state’s economy, according to the Read More…
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has been referred an investigation into Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, raising the possibility for criminal charges, according to the Washington Post and CNN. The probe was one of several the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General had opened into allegations that Zinke, who heads the agency, used his office for personal Read More…
HELENA – Members of Montana’s law enforcement community and others told Sen. Steve Daines on Thursday they were understaffed and underfunded in the growing war on drugs. “Meth is out of control here in the state,” said Stacy Zinn-Brittain, a regional agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Daines, R-Mont., had assembled a roundtable Read More…
If you need a hotel room near Bozeman this weekend, good luck. With both a Montana State University football game and President Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday, local hotels and the airport are gearing up for a busy weekend. While Bozeman hotel workers say rooms almost always sell out on weekends, hotels out in Read More…
University of Montana Police have released photos and are asking for the public’s help in identifying two men who reportedly attacked a bus as they disembarked near UM housing at the Lewis and Clark Village on South Higgins Avenue. “We got a report of disorderly conduct on one of the UM transportation buses,” said UM Read More…
FRENCHTOWN – The Montana Department of Transportation held an unusual Construction Carnival to thank the Frenchtown community for its patience with six months of construction work. After more than six months of road construction in Frenchtown, MDT wanted to thank the community for being patient, and organized the free family event at Frenchtown High School Read More…
STEVENSVILLE – Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the trapping of a young grizzly in the Bitterroot may be “uncommon” but it serves as a good reminder to carry bear spray no matter where you are in the Montana outdoors. The “sub-adult” male grizzly — kind of like a teenager — was caught over the Read More…
Three more Montana tribes will gain access to a United States Department of Justice database. The Blackfeet Tribe, Crow Tribe, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe will be able to use the Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP) in 2019. The Justice Department started TAP in August of 2015 and has expanded the program Read More…
LAUREL – A Laurel school resource officer is on administrative leave pending an investigation into alleged sexual contact with a student. Laurel Police Chief Rick Musson said the city administrator was tasked with leading the internal investigation by Laurel Mayor Tom Nelson. The officer’s name has not been released. On Monday afternoon, Laurel Schools Superintendent Read More…
An Idaho Fish and Game official has come under fire after emailing friends and co-workers photos of a family of baboons and other animals he shot and killed on a hunting trip in Africa. A group of former commissioners is now calling for Commissioner Blake Fischer to resign, CBS Boise affiliate KBOI reports. Fischer emailed photos of himself Read More…
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Another NASA space telescope has shut down and halted science observations. Less than a week after the Hubble Space Telescope went offline, the Chandra X-ray Observatory did the same thing. NASA said Friday that Chandra’s automatically went into so-called safe mode Wednesday, possibly because of a gyroscope problem. Hubble went Read More…
Despite wildfire-related closures and travel restrictions on the beloved Going-to-the-Sun Road for part of the month, visitation in Glacier National Park was up 11.7 percent in September. Approximately, 434,600 people visited Glacier in September, up from 389,137 people in September 2017. Major wildfires have impacted the west side of the park for the last two Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. (Billings Gazette) — A 66-year-old man who was caught watching child pornography as he fled Washington state on a bus with $10,000 strapped to each of his legs pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Missoula. Eric Franklin Rosser pleaded guilty to accessing the internet with intent to view child pornography after Read More…
The city of Kalispell has resumed its search for a new police chief. The city suspended its search in June after it didn’t interview any of the candidates who submitted applications. On Tuesday City Manager Doug Russell said the city wants to have a new chief in place as soon as possible, but said interviews Read More…
The Montana Law Enforcement Academy in Helena will be hosting an installation of over 100 human silhouettes this week. The human figures aren’t just an art project though, they are there to tell many tragic but true stories of domestic violence and death in Montana. Natalie Adorno with the Montana Law Enforcement Academy explains why Read More…
Marilyn Bartlett took a deep breath, drew herself up to her full 5 feet and a smidge, and told the handful of Montana officials that she had a radical strategy to bail out the state’s foundering benefit plan for its 30,000 employees and their families. The officials were listening. Their health plan was going broke, Read More…
BUTTE – Montana Attorney General Tim Fox presented the 2018 Matt Dale Outstanding Advocate of the Year Award to a Butte police officer in a ceremony Friday morning. Butte-Silver Bow Officer Dan Murphy was nominated by his colleagues and honored at the event held at the courthouse rotunda on Friday. Officer Murphy was nominated for Read More…
By Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com atobias@cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio — Although the 2018 election isn’t yet over, a potential 2020 Democratic contender nonetheless made a political pilgrimage to Ohio on Thursday. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock traveled to Cleveland to lend his support to Richard Cordray, the Democratic Ohio governor candidate. Bullock and former Rep. Betty Sutton, Read More…
For the 11th year in a row, Montana State University has set a new enrollment record, with 16,902 students attending this fall. The Bozeman campus gained 199 students over last year’s enrollment of 16,703, an increase of 1.2 percent. That was slightly below the university’s prediction that it would gain 240 students. Total headcount increased Read More…
The University of Montana continues the effort to align its budget with the current and future enrollment as officials plan for the next three years. Provost Jon Harbor said the university has been going through a planning process for the past three years. “The goal is to match resources with the needs that we have, Read More…
Kalispell Regional Healthcare has reached a much-anticipated settlement with the Department of Justice in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging its physicians received illegal compensation in exchange for patient referrals to in-house services, according to a federal court order filed Wednesday. The order, submitted by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, dismisses the case with prejudice — meaning Read More…
Montana is moving ahead with the idea of creating a reinsurance program for the state’s health insurance market. The program may reduce premiums between 10 and 20 percent, said Governor Steve Bullock and Department of Administration Director John Lewis. A bipartisan workgroup will evaluate new ways to address high insurance prices for Montana residents. The Read More…
President Donald Trump has withdrawn ex-CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance, in a move hitting one of the administration’s most vocal critics. The action, announced Wednesday by press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, appears to be more of a political than practical move. Brennan and most other prominent former White House officials do not use their Read More…
In-home health care providers in Montana will likely see a pay increase in the next year after preliminary revenue projections are giving the state the green light to dole out money for the raises. A piece of legislation that called for the pay increase passed during the 2017 Legislature, but another bill, known as the Read More…
A Forbes report alleging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “grifted” more than $120 million from former business partners has been widely slammed for relying heavily on anonymous sources and being laced with “petty” accusations, raising questions of whether the magazine’s Chinese owners were ultimately bashing Ross for his tough pro-American stance in trade talks with Beijing. Read More…
Kara Landolfi said she felt “super excited” as she helped greet hundreds of hungry people at Monday’s opening of Rendezvous, Montana State University’s newest and largest $18.2 million dining hall. “I think it’s going to be one of the greatest gathering spots on campus,” said Landolfi. She is farm-to-campus coordinator for MSU, bringing Montana-grown beef Read More…
FLATHEAD LAKE — On the 60th anniversary of their organization’s founding, the Flathead Lakers presented their prestigious 2018 Stewardship Award to the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station at their annual meeting. The Stewardship Award was given in recognition of the Bio Station’s sustained and outstanding contributions to the protection of Flathead Lake and Read More…
HELENA — Montana Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale says he’s finalized next year’s rates for companies that sell health insurance policies through the Affordable Care Act’s federal exchange. The rates approved Friday include premium rate hikes for two of the three companies. Rosendale’s office said in a statement the rate proposals contained no deficiencies. The commissioner Read More…
GREAT FALLS- Roberto Salaman Garcia, initially charged with two misdemeanor counts of sexual assault, has now also been charged with two felony counts of sexual assault. Garcia is a Thomas Carnival worker who has been accused of sexually assaulting four females while he was on the job as a ride operator at the Montana State Read More…
One by one, the founders of six startups will walk onto the Center Theater stage Thursday afternoon and pitch their businesses to a panel of judges and a general audience. Each entrepreneur — in one case a duo — will take a few follow-up questions from the judges and then yield the stage to the Read More…
A two-week trial is slated to get under way in Gallatin County District Court this week in a dispute between a prominent Bozeman developer and a local construction supply company over a downtown hotel. Jury selection begins Monday for the civil trial between Andy Holloran and Kenyon Noble and its co-owner Rick Ogle. The trial Read More…
LAKE MCDONALD — The Howe Ridge Fire started Sunday as a small fire smoldering on a hillside overlooking Lake McDonald. By nightfall it had become a massive inferno spewing smoke and flames hundreds of feet into the air and forcing the evacuation of a section of Glacier National Park. Glacier National Park officials are still Read More…
WikiLeaks is claiming that the Senate Intelligence Committee has asked its founder, Julian Assange, to testify as part of the panel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The organization posted a letter on its Twitter account dated Aug. 1 that purports to come from committee leaders Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Read More…